The 17 hour journey from Hilo to Oakland/Concord was very exhausting, especially since I had difficulty sleeping the night before. Prior to flight, "May" was loaded with 127 gallons of fuel and I was packed in the plane surrounded by fuel tanks up to the canopy top.
John is the newest member of a very exclusive club.
A little perspective:
-Number of persons who have summitted Mt. Everest -over 4,000
-Number of persons who have swam the English Channel -1832
-Number of men who have set foot on the moon -12
Number of persons who have flown around the world solo in an aircraft they built themselves:
John Koehler is number 11
List of men in the same club:
-Don Taylor, Thorp T-18 1976
-Jon Johansen, RV-4, 1995, 1996, 2000
-Mike Melville, Long EZ, 1997
-Dick Rutan, Long EZ, 1997
-Ike Bartlett, Mustang II, 1999
-H G Schmidt, Long EZ, 2000
-Bill Randolph, RV-8, 2005
-Bill Harrelson, Lancair IV, 2015
-Hank Chang, RV-8, 2015
-Gordillo Miguel, RV-8, 2016
Notably, 5 of the 11 built and flew RVs.
We are all justifiably proud of John!
I was wondering about the fuel load - I planned on 133 gallons in my plane for the same leg, very close to yours. I can put 67 in the wing tanks and plan on a 66 gallon turtle-pac in the right seat.
When you get a little free time I would love to chat with you about your power settings for the trip.
John,
I just re-read your blog and thoroughly enjoyed every post. Your RTW trip looks like the adventure of a lifetime. I'll be at AirVenture 2019 all week so I hope to meet up with you and shake the hand of my hero! Well done.
John, congratulations again on a truly amazing accomplishment, under many difficult circumstances. Well done!
VAF,
Blog
https://memoryflightrtw.weebly.com/blog
Photos
https://memoryflightrtw.weebly.com/photos.html
I have updated many sections of the trip blog and added additional photos.
This was a tough trip, with very unfavorable weather around the planet and many obstacles along the way.
I plan to fly "May" to Oshkosh in 2019 and hope to see you there. Fly safe.
Sincerely,
John
The first single engine was the Douglas World Cruisers in 1924. Four started, two completed the flight.
.